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January 6, 2024Hi, I wanted to take this week before I start my time in the Olean and Allegany areas to let you get to know me a little bit. I grew up in the Town of Tonawanda and spent my childhood going to St. Amelia Parish. I am the middle-child with an older brother and younger sister. Our parents were both very involved in the parish, but like most kids I found Mass to be sort of (gasp) boring. Luckily for me, my parents didn’t seem to care about my opinion, so rain or shine, I went to Mass every Sunday and became an altar server in the fifth grade. After graduating from St. Amelia, my parents sent me to St. Joseph Collegiate Institute. This was another instance of my parents sending me to a place that I did not want to go (at 13 years-old, I was not too keen on attending an all-boys school). This became another instance of my parents not caring about my opinion and making the right call. At SJCI I was involved in numerous sports and clubs, but my defining moment of high school was when I joined the wrestling team. On the wresting team I finally learned discipline, a trait that would serve me well the rest of my life. Throughout high school, I had no inclination of becoming a priest. Rather, my last two years of high school were spent working towards an ROTC scholarship, which I eventually received from Niagara University, and I went off to college thinking I had everything planned and the rest of my life set (Ha!).
As you can probably imagine, my plans quickly changed. During my first semester, an injury from playing football at SJCI worsened and required surgery. I left Niagara and decided to finish my degree in criminal justice from Buffalo State College. During my second year at Buffalo State, my dad brought up the idea of the priesthood to me (later I found out that he did so after some prompting from my mom). I thought he was crazy (to put it mildly), but to my surprise by during my final year of college, I began to seriously consider the priesthood. After graduation, I worked for the Town of Tonawanda Parks department, while I looked for a job in law enforcement. Two years later, I received an offer from the NYS Department of Corrections. In a moment of grace and courage, I told the officer that I would decline the offer and give the seminary a year. I’ve never looked back. I received my degree from Christ the King Seminary (sadly, I was the final class before the seminary closed). In 2020, my ordination was delayed due to the pandemic, which is why my classmate and I have our ordination anniversary on September 19, while everyone else we were in seminary with celebrates in June. I spent the first two years of my priesthood at St Stephens (Grand Island), and the last sixteen months in the Catholic Community of Buffalo, North.
Now that you have a little background into my life, I want to tell you a few more things about me. I love sports and have been preparing myself for trading in my UB basketball season tickets and becoming a Bonnies fan. I am also a huge Notre Dame fan. In my spare time I love to read non-fiction and go to the gym. I know that we will certainly get to know each other better once I am able to meet everyone, but until then, I ask for your prayers, and know that you will be in my prayers as we form our Allegany/Olean family of parishes.
Fr. Chris
